KR20090018134A - Sheet-like material conveying device - Google Patents

Abstract

A sheet-like material conveying device (10) including an air table unit (14) that has an air table (22) for supporting a glass substrate (12) by supplying air to the lower side of the glass substrate (12) and also has fan devices (24) for supplying positive pressure air to the air table (22). The air table unit (14) is elongate in the conveyance direction and has a fan device (24) placed for each length of the table unit, with each length equivalent to about three to ten times the width of the air table unit (14). Each fan unit (24) is constructed from a box-like receiving section (24A) provided connected to the lower side of the air table (22) and a fan (28) placed inside the receiving section (24A).

Description

Sheet-shaped material conveying apparatus {SHEET-LIKE MATERIAL CONVEYING DEVICE}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thin plate material conveying apparatus for non-contacting a thin plate material such as a large and thin glass substrate used in a flat panel display (FPD) such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel and a plasma display (PDP).

Glass substrates of flat panel displays, such as liquid crystal displays and plasma displays, are greatly affected by quality even with slight damage and dust. Therefore, the glass substrate is not damaged or adhered to the surface of the glass substrate during transportation of such glass substrates. It is required to convey smoothly along a predetermined conveyance surface, maintaining the shape in a shape near to a plane.

On the other hand, in a liquid crystal display, the size of a glass substrate becomes larger and larger, for example, compared with the size of W2200mm x L2500mm in the 8th generation, it is very thin about 0.5-0.7mm in thickness. For this reason, when conveying a glass substrate horizontally, a center part will sag large unless it supports not only the outer periphery end but a part of inner side.

Therefore, the conveying apparatus of a glass substrate is researched to support a glass substrate as uniformly as possible from the front surface, and to hold | maintain and convey in a shape near a plane.

For example, the conveying apparatus which installs a some roller in a suitable pitch in the width direction perpendicular | vertical to a conveyance direction and a conveyance direction, supports a glass substrate from below, and drives it is known.

As one of such conveying apparatuses, the conveying apparatus which drives by the pressure of air, and conveys non-contactly is known, using the air table in which many air supply holes were formed in the upper surface part, and is floating (for example, See Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-139160, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 11-268830, and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 11-268831).

For example, as described in Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2003-63643 ('643), Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2005-29359 (' 359), and Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2005-29360 ('360), An air table is provided near the center of the width direction of a glass substrate, the deflection of the center part of a glass substrate is suppressed, and the both sides of the width direction perpendicular | vertical to the conveyance direction of a glass substrate are supported by several rollers, and a predetermined conveyance of a glass substrate is carried out. The conveying apparatus which drive to the direction is known.

The plate-shaped body conveying apparatus described in the above '643 provides clean air toward the lower side of the plate-shaped body which is provided with one blower fan for each air table and a dust removal filter is provided at a position close to the air supply hole on the upper surface. It is supposed to be.

In addition, in the conveying apparatus described in the '360', the table unit described in the '359' is divided into two in the width direction orthogonal to the conveying direction, so as to form a path in which air escapes.

In the case of the above '359' and '360', one air fan is provided in one substantially square air table, and the air table is closely arranged adjacent to each other in the conveying direction of the glass substrate.

Therefore, when the kinetic energy of the blowing air is converted into pressure, the pressure increases by that, and when there is no glass substrate on the air table, air flow is formed from the upper surface of the air table to a high position in the room, and dust is blown up in the clean room. This occurs. In addition, in the conveying apparatuses of the '359' and '360, the cover is provided on the upper side of the conveying surface to prevent the injection of air.

In addition, the conveying devices of the '359 and' 360 has a problem in that the number of installation of the blower fan increases.

In addition, the above blower fan must supply air from an air table having a large area compared to its outer diameter, and therefore, there is a problem that a high power and an expensive one (for example, a turbo fan) must be used.

Moreover, in the conveyance apparatus of 360, there exists a problem that the protrusion of the width direction center of the glass substrate in conveyance cannot fully be prevented.

Moreover, in general, the conveying apparatus which uses a drive unit together as an air table provided with a roller has small contact force of a glass substrate and a roller, and a friction force of a glass substrate and a roller is small because a glass substrate floats by an air table. Therefore, there exists a problem that a glass substrate and a roller are slippery.

Moreover, although the drive unit can be arrange | positioned so that the upper end of a roller may become higher than the height of the lower surface of the glass substrate on an air table, the friction force of a glass substrate and a roller may be increased, but there exists a problem which cannot maintain a glass substrate in the shape near a plane. Moreover, although slip of the glass substrate and a roller can be suppressed to some extent when acceleration and deceleration of rotation of a roller are made small, there exists a problem that conveyance efficiency falls.

As a result of intensive research, the present inventors have found the conditions for installing the minimum blower fan and found that even when the thin plate material was interrupted during conveyance, air was not strongly injected there.

In addition, in the thin plate-shaped material conveying apparatus which has drive members, such as an air table unit and a roller, it discovered that the slip of a thin plate-shaped material and a drive member can become difficult to produce.

That is, the said subject can be solved by the following this invention.

(1) An air table unit having an air table for supplying gas to the lower surface of the laminated sheet material to be conveyed to support the laminated sheet material in a non-contact manner, and an air blower for supplying the gas to the air table. In the thin plate-shaped conveying apparatus comprised by arranging a plurality in the conveyance direction of the said thin plate material and the width direction orthogonal to this, the said air table unit is arrange | positioned at least 4 in the width direction, and the clearance which gas can flow between each air table unit In addition, each air table unit is formed to be thin and long in the conveying direction, and one blower device is disposed every 3 to 10 times the length of the width, and the air table has a box shape with a flat upper surface part. A plurality of air supply holes for supplying the gas to the lower surface of the thin plate-like material It is a structure formed in the upper surface part, The said blower is a thin-plate-shaped material conveying apparatus comprised from the box-shaped accommodating part installed in connection with the lower side of the said air table, and the blowing fan provided in this accommodating part.

(2) The height of the said box-shaped accommodating part becomes 3-6 times the height of the said fan, and the said fan is arrange | positioned at the upper part in the said accommodating part, The thin plate-shaped material conveying apparatus as described in (1) characterized by the above-mentioned.

(3) The thin plate-shaped material conveying apparatus according to (1) or (2), wherein the filter is provided near a lower side of the upper surface portion of the air table.

(4) a driving unit having a drive member for contacting a lower surface of the thin plate material and driving the thin plate material in a predetermined conveying direction, and in the vicinity of the drive member, and having a negative pressure on the lower surface of the thin plate material. (Iii) A suction device for supplying a force in the direction of the drive member by supplying the thin plate-like material further comprises a thin plate-shaped material conveying apparatus according to any one of (1) to (3). .

(5) The thin plate shape according to (4), wherein the suction unit is supplied to the air table unit, and the blower of the air table unit also serves as a negative pressure generating device for supplying the negative pressure to the suction unit. Material conveying device.

(6) The thin plate material conveying apparatus according to (5), wherein the suction unit includes a negative pressure generating device.

(7) The negative pressure generating device of the suction unit and the blower of the air table unit are arranged in parallel with a gap open to the outside, and both the gas exhausted from the negative pressure generating device and the external gas are supplied to the blower. The laminated material conveying apparatus as described in (6) characterized by the above-mentioned.

(8) The said drive member is arrange | positioned in the position which contacts the width direction both ends of the said thin plate-shaped material conveyed from below, The said suction unit is the air table unit of the said width direction both ends position among the said plurality of air table units, and the said drive. The plate-shaped material conveying apparatus in any one of (4)-(7) characterized by applying a negative pressure to the lower surface of the said sheet-like material at the position between members.

The air table unit of this thin plate material conveying apparatus is formed thin and long in a conveying direction, and since one blower fan is arrange | positioned every three to 10 times the length with respect to the width, the pressure loss of a filter is small and it is uniform, It is possible to manufacture the device at a low cost since it is not necessary to install more than a high-performance and expensive blower fan, which requires less injection of air upward when the conveyance of the thin plate material is interrupted.

This thin plate material conveying apparatus is provided with the suction unit for exerting a thin plate material in the direction of a drive member, such as a roller and a belt, and raises the contact force of a thin plate material and a drive member, and raises the frictional force of a thin plate material and a drive member. Can be increased. Thereby, slip of a thin plate-shaped material and a drive member can be suppressed.

Thus, for example, the drive unit is disposed so that the height of the lower surface of the thin plate-like material on the air table and the upper end of the drive member are the same height, and the thin plate-shaped material and the drive member slip even if the thin plate-shaped material is kept in a shape close to the plane. Can be suppressed.

In addition, since the frictional force between the thin plate-like material and the driving member is large, the acceleration and deceleration of the rotation of the roller can be set so large, contributing to the improvement of the conveyance efficiency.

Further, the suction unit may be coupled to the air table unit, and the blower of the air table unit may serve as a negative pressure generating device for supplying negative pressure to the suction unit. Since a blower blows in gas and exhausts it, it can use as a negative pressure generator. In this way, piping of the suction unit and the external negative pressure supply equipment is also unnecessary, contributing to the suppression of the installation space. In addition, the blower also serves as a negative pressure generating device to reduce the partial score, and further miniaturization and cost can be achieved.

In addition, the suction unit may include a negative pressure generating device. Thus, even when the suction unit is provided with a negative pressure generating device, piping between the suction unit and the external negative pressure supply equipment is unnecessary, so that the space for installation can be reduced. In addition, the floating force by the air table unit and the suction force by the suction unit can be controlled independently. In addition, if the gap between the upper surface of the suction unit and the lower surface of the thin plate-shaped material is significantly reduced, and the amount of gas exhausted from the negative pressure generating device is significantly reduced, the gas to the blower is provided if the negative pressure generating device and the blower are installed independently. The supply of is not suppressed. Thus, sufficient flotation force by the air table unit is obtained.

In addition, the negative pressure generating device of the suction unit and the blower of the air table unit may be provided together with a gap open to the outside, so that both the gas exhausted from the negative pressure generating device and the external gas are supplied to the blower. In this way, gas can be efficiently supplied to a blower, and the effect of increasing the floating force of an air table unit is acquired.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The front view containing the partial cross section which shows the outline | summary of the whole structure of the thin plate-shaped material conveyance apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention,

2 is an enlarged front sectional view showing the structures of the air table unit and the suction unit of the sheet-like material conveying apparatus;

3 is a perspective view showing an outline of the entire structure of the thin plate-shaped conveying apparatus;

4 is a side view showing an outline of an entire structure of the thin plate material conveying apparatus;

5 is a front view showing a partial cross-sectional view showing an outline of an entire structure of a thin plate material conveying apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

6 is an enlarged front sectional view showing the structures of the air table unit and the suction unit of the sheet-like material conveying apparatus;

7 is a side view showing an outline of the entire structure of the thin plate material conveying apparatus;

8 is an enlarged front sectional view showing the structures of the air table unit and the suction unit of the sheet-like material conveying apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention; and

It is a front view containing the partial cross section which shows the outline | summary of the whole structure of the thin plate-shaped material conveyance apparatus which concerns on 4th Embodiment of this invention.

(Best form for carrying out the invention)

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, preferred embodiment of this invention is described in detail with reference to drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the thin-plate-shaped material conveying apparatus 10 which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention is a non-contacted support for supporting the large size glass substrate (laminar-shaped material) 12 for LCD, for example. The drive unit 18 provided with the air table unit 14 and the some roller (drive member) 16 for contacting the lower surface of the glass substrate 12, and for driving the glass substrate 12 to a predetermined conveyance direction. And a suction unit 20 disposed in the vicinity of the roller 16 and supplying a negative pressure to the lower surface of the glass substrate 12 to apply a force to the glass substrate 12 in the direction of the roller 16. The structure of the unit 14 is characteristic. Moreover, the thin plate material conveying apparatus 10 is characterized by including the suction unit 20.

The air table unit 14 supplies air (gas) to the lower surface of the glass substrate 12 to support the glass substrate 12 in a non-contact manner, and a static pressure is applied to the air table 22. A blowing device 24 for supplying air of i) is provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, the air table 22 is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped box body whose upper surface part 26 is substantially flat, and the several air supply hole 26A for supplying air to the lower surface of the glass substrate 12 is shown. ) Is a structure formed in the upper surface portion (26).

3, the air table 22 is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped long in the conveyance direction (direction shown by the arrow in FIG. 3) of the glass substrate 12. Moreover, as shown in FIG.

In addition, the air table unit 14 is provided in the thin plate-shaped material conveying apparatus 10 in multiple numbers (eight in this 1st Embodiment). Specifically, two sets of four air table units 14 are provided adjacent to the conveyance direction. The four air table units 14 of each set are provided side by side in the width direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction.

The upper surface part 26 is a board | plate material of 0.5-3 mm of thickness specifically ,. As a material of the upper surface part 26, stainless steel, aluminum, various alloys, etc. can be used.

As shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 2, the blower 24 includes a circular box-shaped accommodating portion 24A having communication holes 25A and 25B up and down, and a blowing fan disposed in the accommodating portion 24A. It is comprised with 28. In this embodiment, the blowing fan 28 is an axial flow fan and is driven by a motor not shown. The blower 24 is provided below the air table 22, and is directly connected to the air table 22 at 25 A of upper communication ports. In addition, as shown in FIG. 4, in this 1st Embodiment, two air blowers 24 are spaced apart in the conveyance direction with respect to each air table 22. As shown in FIG. In addition, in the width direction of the air table 22, each blower 24 is arrange | positioned by the width direction.

The internal size in the width direction of the housing portion 24A is about 1 to 1.8 times the outer diameter of the blower fan 28 of the blower 24. In addition, the magnitude | size of the conveyance direction of the accommodating part 24A becomes about 1/10 of the length of the conveyance direction of the air table 22, and the two accommodating parts 24A have the length of the conveyance direction of the air table 22. It is evenly arranged every 1/2. That is, one housing | casing part 24A is arrange | positioned for every 5 times its length in a conveyance direction.

24 A of accommodating parts are the length of the axial direction (up-down direction in FIG. 2, 4, 5) about 3-6 times the length of the blowing fan 28, and the blowing fan 28 is the accommodating part ( It is arrange | positioned in the substantially center of the height direction in 24A, and the flat cross-sectional shape of the accommodating part 24A is circular surrounding the outer periphery of the blowing fan 28, and the inner periphery of the accommodating part 24A and a blowing fan ( The gap in the outer circumference of 28 is minimized in a range in which rotation of the blowing fan 28 is not inhibited.

Four air table units 14 are arranged in the width direction, and a gap 13 through which gas can flow is provided between the air table units 14.

A filter 30 is provided between the upper surface portion 26 of the air table 22 and the air blower 24. In more detail, the filter 30 is provided in the vicinity of the upper surface part 26 of the air table 22 below. As a material of the filter 30, the same material as the HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air Filter) and ULPA (Ultra Low Penetration Air Filter) for clean air can be used, for example.

A mesh member 32 is provided between the upper surface portion 26 and the filter 30 in the air table 22. The mesh member 32 is a structure in which a needle-like or thread-like member having a line diameter of 0.1 to 1.5 mm is woven at a predetermined pitch. As a material of the mesh member 32, stainless steel, aluminum, various alloys, resin, etc. can be used specifically ,.

The suction unit 20 is provided in the thin plate-shaped material conveying apparatus 10 in multiple numbers (four in this 1st Embodiment).

Each suction unit 20 has a structure in which the upper surface portion 34 has a substantially flat box shape and a plurality of suction holes 32A are formed in the upper surface portion 34 for supplying negative pressure to the lower surface of the glass substrate 12. .

These four suction units 20 are coupled to four air table units 14 provided on both sides in the width direction, respectively. More specifically, each suction unit 20 is coupled to one of the two blowers 24 coupled to the air table unit 14. These blowers 24 also serve as a negative pressure generating device for supplying negative pressure to the suction unit 20. In addition, since the air blower 24 sucks air and exhausts it, it can use as a negative pressure generator.

The suction unit 20 is provided so that the upper surface part 34 is arrange | positioned between the upper surface part 26 of the air table unit 14 of the width direction both sides, and the roller 16 of the drive unit 18. As shown in FIG.

The pair of drive units 18 is provided in the width direction both sides of the eight air table units 14 so that the glass substrate 12 may contact the both ends of the width direction.

The roller 16 is provided in multiple numbers by an appropriate pitch in a conveyance direction. Each roller 16 is provided with the roller part 16A which contact | connects the lower surface of the glass substrate 12, and the flange part 16B provided in the width direction outer side more than this, and is connected to the rotation drive source which is not shown in figure. In addition, in this 1st Embodiment, in the drive unit 18, the upper end of the roller part 16A of the roller 16 is as much as the floating amount of the glass substrate 12 rather than the upper surface of the upper surface part 26 of the air table 22. As shown in FIG. It is installed to be several mm higher.

Subsequently, the action of the thin plate material conveying apparatus 10 will be described.

Since the blower device 24 of the air table unit 14 is installed below the air table 22, the thin plate-shaped material conveying apparatus 10 receives air supplied from the blower device 24 of the air table 22. I can send it upward efficiently.

First, the gap between the outer periphery of the blower fan 28 of the blower 24 and the inner periphery of the receiver 24A is small, and the height of the receiver 24A becomes 3 to 6 times the thickness of the blower fan 28. Therefore, the wind (air flow) generated by the rotation of the blower fan 28 flows into the box-shaped air table 22 from the communication port 25A without flowing back through the outside of the blower fan 28.

Here, pressure loss occurs in the air flow introduced by the filter 30, but as shown in Fig. 4, the receiving portion 24A is provided with one blower 24 every five times the length in the conveying direction. There is little pressure loss because it is installed. That is, the air table 22 is supplied upward from the air supply hole 26A of the air table 22 without causing a large pressure rise.

Therefore, even if it does not cover with a cover, when the conveyance of the glass substrate 12 is interrupted, air is not sprayed strongly in a room.

Moreover, when the internal size of the width direction of the said air table 22 exceeds 1.8 times the outer diameter of the blower fan 28, the spread of the width direction of an airflow will become large, and in order to float the glass substrate 12, It is necessary to increase the rotational speed of the fan 28, which causes a large pressure difference due to pressure loss, and when the conveyance of the glass substrate 12 is stopped, air is strongly injected into the room. Moreover, when smaller than 1 time, an airflow will be compressed and the speed of the airflow of the air supply hole 26A will become excessive.

When the housing portion 24A is provided for each length less than three times the length in the conveying direction, the number of the blowers 24 becomes excessive. As a result of trial and error, the efficiency was the best when it was almost 3 to 10 times. Moreover, when 10 times was exceeded, the floating of the glass substrate was difficult.

Since four air table units 14 are arranged in the width direction, and the gap 13 through which gas can flow is provided between each air table unit 14, the width direction center part of the glass substrate 12 protrudes during conveyance. To be suppressed. In addition, at least four air table units 14 may be disposed in the width direction.

In the case of three units in the width direction, the protrusion of the center is larger than that of the two units in the width direction, and it is necessary to set it to four or more units.

Moreover, since the filter 30 is provided between the upper surface part 26 of the air table 22 and the air blower 24, the clean air from which the foreign material was removed can be supplied to the lower surface of the glass substrate 12. FIG. In particular, since the filter 30 is provided near the lower side of the upper surface portion 26 in the air table 22, clean air immediately after the foreign matter is removed is surely supplied to the lower surface of the glass substrate 12.

Moreover, since the thin plate conveying apparatus 10 is equipped with the suction unit 20 for applying the force to the glass substrate 12 in the direction of the roller 16, it raises the contact force of the glass substrate 12 and the roller 16, The friction force of the glass substrate 12 and the roller 16 can be increased. Thereby, slip of the glass substrate 12 and the roller 16 can be suppressed.

Therefore, the drive unit 18 is provided so that the height of the lower surface of the glass substrate 12 which floats on the air table 22, and the upper end of the roller part 16A of the roller 16 become the same height, and the glass substrate 12 ), The slip of the glass substrate 12 and the roller 16 is suppressed.

Moreover, since the frictional force of the glass substrate 12 and the roller 16 is large, the acceleration and deceleration of the rotation of the roller 16 can be set so large, and it contributes to the improvement of conveyance efficiency.

In addition, since the suction unit 20 is coupled to the air table unit 14, and the blower 24 of the air table unit 14 also serves as a negative pressure generating device for supplying negative pressure to the suction unit 20, the partial score Less, contributes to miniaturization and cost reduction. In addition, since the piping of the suction unit 20 and the external negative pressure supply equipment is unnecessary, the space for installation can also be made small at this point.

Moreover, since the thin-plate material conveying apparatus 10 drives the glass substrate 12 to a conveyance direction by contacting the lower surface of the glass substrate 12, the conveying apparatus which gives a driving force only by the pressure of air, In comparison, supplying only the air supporting the glass substrate 12 is sufficient, thereby contributing to the reduction of the manufacturing cost of the apparatus, and since the supply amount of air is at least sufficient, confusion of air in the clean room is suppressed. In addition, since complicated control of air is unnecessary, the structure is simple.

Then, 2nd Embodiment of this invention is described.

In the thin plate-shaped material conveying apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment, each suction unit 20 is coupled to one of two blower devices 24 of each air table unit 14, and these blower devices 24 are provided. 5 to 7, the thin plate-shaped material conveying apparatus 50 according to the second embodiment of the present invention can be used as a negative pressure generating device for supplying negative pressure to the suction unit 20. 52 is not coupled to the air table unit 14, and has a negative pressure generator 54, respectively. Since the other structure is the same as that of 1st Embodiment mentioned above, the same code | symbol as FIG. 1-FIG. 4 is used about the same structure, and description is abbreviate | omitted.

In addition, the negative pressure generating device 54 has a structure having a fan similarly to the blower 24, and exhausts air inward in the width direction.

In this way, since each suction unit 52 is not coupled to the air table unit 14 and has a negative pressure generating device 54, respectively, the force for floating the glass substrate 12 by the air table unit 14 and The force which applies the glass substrate 12 by the suction unit 52 to the roller 16 can be controlled independently. Therefore, the more precise floating force according to the magnitude | size and rigidity of the glass substrate 12, and the adjustment of the secondary force to the roller 16 are possible.

In addition, if the gap between the upper surface of the suction unit 52 and the lower surface of the glass substrate 12 becomes significantly smaller, and the amount of air exhausted from the negative pressure generating device 54 decreases significantly, the negative pressure generating device 54 and the blowing air are reduced. Since the device 24 is provided independently, the supply of air to the blower device 24 is not suppressed. Thus, sufficient flotation force by the air table unit 14 is obtained.

Then, 3rd Embodiment of this invention is described.

As shown in FIG. 8, the thin plate material conveying apparatus 60 which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention is the negative pressure generator of the suction unit 62 with respect to the thin plate material conveying apparatus 50 which concerns on the said 2nd Embodiment ( 64 and the air blower device 24 of the air table unit 14 are provided in parallel with the gap opened to the outside, and both the air exhausted from the negative pressure generating device 64 and external air are supplied to the blower device 24. It is configured to be. Since the other structure is the same as that of 2nd Embodiment mentioned above, the code | symbol same as FIG. 6 etc. is used for the same structure, and description is abbreviate | omitted.

Specifically, the negative pressure generating device 64 has the same structure as the negative pressure generating device 54, and is installed below the blower 24 so that the fan is disposed coaxially with the fan of the blower 24, and the blower The air is exhausted upward toward 24.

In this way, the air exhausted from the negative pressure generating device 64 is supplied to the blower 24 so that the air can be efficiently supplied to the blower 24, and the effect of increasing the floating force of the air table unit 14 is obtained. Lose. In addition, similarly to the second embodiment, if the gap between the upper surface portion 34 of the suction unit 62 and the lower surface of the glass substrate 12 is significantly smaller, the amount of air exhausted from the negative pressure generating device 64 is reduced. Even if it decreases remarkably, since the negative pressure generator 64 and the blower 24 are provided independently, supply of air to the blower 24 is not suppressed. Thus, sufficient floating force of the air table unit 14 is obtained.

Then, 4th Embodiment of this invention is described.

As shown in FIG. 9, the thin plate material conveying apparatus 70 which concerns on this 4th Embodiment omits the suction unit 20 with respect to the thin plate material conveying apparatus 10 which concerns on the said 1st embodiment. Since it is the same as that of 1st Embodiment about another structure, about the same structure, the same code | symbol as FIG. 1 is used, and description is abbreviate | omitted.

In this case, even when the suction unit 20 is omitted, the air table unit 14 includes the blower 24, so that the air table unit 14 may be connected to an external air supply facility such as a clean air facility or an air supply facility having a blower. No piping is required, and the same effects as in the first to third embodiments, such as suppression of installation space and installation cost, can be obtained.

In addition, although the thin plate-shaped material conveying apparatus 10.50, 60, 70, 80 is equipped with eight air table units 14 and 86 in the said, 1st-5th embodiment, the length of the glass substrate 12 According to the width | variety, etc., it may be set as the structure provided with seven air table units or less, and may be set as the structure provided with nine or more air table units.

In addition, in the said 1st-5th embodiment, although the air table units 14 and 86 are elongate in a conveyance direction, it is according to the length, width, etc. of the glass substrate 12, for example, the air table units 14 and 86 The length in the conveyance direction and the length in the width direction may be made into the same shape, and may be made into the shape long in the width direction.

In addition, in the said 1st-4th embodiment, although the air table unit 14 is equipped with two static pressure generators 24, respectively, static pressure generate | occur | produces in each air table unit according to the shape of an air table unit, etc., for example. Only one apparatus may be provided and three or more static pressure generators may be provided.

In addition, in the said 1st-5th embodiment, in the drive unit 18, the upper end of the roller part 16A of the roller 16 has the glass substrate 12 rather than the upper surface of the upper surface part 26 of the air table 22. As shown in FIG. Although it is provided so that it may become as high as the floating amount of, the upper end of the roller part 16A of the roller 16, for example, may depend on the upper surface part 26 of the upper surface part 26 of the air table 22 according to the length, width, etc. of the glass substrate 12. On the other hand, you may provide the drive unit 18 so that it may become slightly higher (for example, about several mm) than the floating amount of the glass substrate 12. FIG.

In addition, in the said 1st-4th embodiment, although the thin plate-shaped material conveying apparatus 10, 50, 60, 70 is equipped with the drive unit 18 provided with the some roller (drive member) 16, For example, it is good also as a structure provided with the drive unit which has a belt (drive member). Moreover, it is good also as a structure provided with the drive unit which the drive roller and the belt were provided in parallel.

In addition, the drive unit may be omitted, and the air supply hole of the air table may be inclined to be formed on the upper surface plate so as to inject air in the conveying direction, and the conveyed object may be driven by the air injected by the air table. In addition, when driving a to-be-carried object with the air supplied from an air table, a suction unit may be abbreviate | omitted.

In addition, in the said 1st-4th embodiment, although the gas supplied to the lower surface of the glass substrate 12 from the air table units 14 and 86 is air, it is other things, such as nitrogen gas and a rare gas, for example. The base may be supplied to the lower surface of the glass substrate 12.

In addition, although said 1st-4th embodiment is for conveying the glass substrate 12, this invention is applicable also to conveyance of another material as long as it is what is called a thin plate-shaped material with thin plate | board thickness compared with an area. For example, it is applicable in the case of conveyance of the material which is easy to produce curvature, such as a thin metal sheet material and the thin plate material of resin.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used for conveying a thin plate-like material such as a large and thin glass substrate used for flat panel displays such as liquid crystal displays and plasma displays.

Claims (8)

The thin plate-shaped material includes an air table for supplying gas to the lower surface of the thin plate-like material to be conveyed to support the thin plate material in a non-contact manner, and an air table unit having a blower for supplying the gas to the air table. In the conveyance direction of the thin plate-shaped conveying apparatus comprised by plurally arranged in the width direction orthogonal to this, At least four air table units are arranged in the width direction, and a gap through which air can flow is provided between each air table unit, In addition, each air table unit is formed to be thin and long in the conveying direction, and one blower device is disposed every length of about 3 to 10 times the width, The air table has a structure in which an upper surface is a substantially flat box-shaped body, and a plurality of air supply holes for supplying the gas to the lower surface of the thin plate-like material are formed in the upper surface portion, The said blower is comprised by the box-shaped accommodating part connected to the lower side of the said air table, and the blower fan provided in this accommodating part, The thin-plate-shaped material conveying apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. The method of claim 1, The height of the said box-shaped accommodating part becomes three to six times the height of the said fan, and the said fan-shaped material conveying apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned arranged in the upper part in the said accommodating part. The method according to claim 1 or 2, And said filter is provided in the vicinity of the upper surface portion of said air table. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, A driving unit having a driving member for contacting a lower surface of the thin plate material and driving the thin plate material in a predetermined conveying direction, and disposed in the vicinity of the driving member and supplying a negative pressure to the lower surface of the thin plate material. And a suction unit for applying the force to the thin plate-like material in the direction of the drive member. The method of claim 4, wherein And said suction unit is coupled to said air table unit, and said blower of said air table unit also serves as a negative pressure generating device for supplying said negative pressure to said suction unit. The method of claim 5, wherein The said suction unit is equipped with the negative pressure generator, The thin plate material conveying apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. The method of claim 6, The negative pressure generating device of the suction unit and the blower of the air table unit are arranged in parallel with a gap open to the outside, and configured to supply both the gas exhausted from the negative pressure generating device and the external gas to the blower. Thin plate material conveying apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 7, The said drive member is arrange | positioned in the position which contacts the width direction both ends of the said thin plate-shaped material conveyed from below, and the said suction unit is between the air table unit of the width direction both ends positions of the said plurality of air table units, and the said drive member. A plate-shaped material conveying apparatus, wherein a negative pressure is applied to a lower surface of the sheet-like material at a position.

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